Harvard Square Design Project

The Harvard Square Design Project is making transportation, landscaping, and lighting improvements throughout the Square. The improvements were developed in a participatory process with the Harvard Square Design Committee.

The last extensive infrastructure project completed in Harvard Square was the extension of the MBTA Red Line subway through Harvard Square to Alewife in 1978-1985. Extensive roadway, sidewalk and urban design improvements were constructed in conjunction with the MBTA work. The roadway reconfigurations and sidewalk changes resulted in extensive improvements for pedestrians using the square.

The City is using this opportunity to address safety concerns and pedestrian, bicycle and vehicular traffic patterns in the square. The goal is to design and construct appropriate infrastructure improvements that will benefit the users and improve safety.

Project Plan

A robust participatory process has allowed us to come up with a variety of plans and maps outlining these lighting, landscaping and transportation improvements. See the links below for more details.

PLEASE NOTE that due to the very large size of these files - 3 to 10 megabytes - they may take considerable time to download.

Public Process

The Harvard Square Design Committee was appointed by the City Manager and began meeting in April 2002. The committee includes residents, business owners, institutional representatives and a Harvard student. In addition to the committee process, several community meetings have been held to discuss the project with the public at large.